** NOTE: The American Presidency Project will soon launch a new website with a more contemporary look and improved search capability. While we continue "beta testing" the new site, please excuse lapses in updating this site.
We expect to have the new site on-line in June.

Seats in Congress Gained or Lost by the President's Party in Presidential Election Years F. Roosevelt - Trump

Year

President

Party

House Seats

Senate Seats

1932

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democratic

+90

+9

1936

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democratic

+12

+7

1940

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democratic

+7

-3

1944

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democratic

+24

-2

1948

Harry S. Truman

Democratic

+75

+9

1952

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Republican

+22

+1

1956

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Republican

-2

-1

1960

John F. Kennedy

Democratic

-22

+2

1964

Lyndon B. Johnson

Democratic

+37

+1

1968

Richard Nixon

Republican

+5

+6

1972

Richard Nixon

Republican

+12

-2

1976

Jimmy Carter

Democratic

+1

0

1980

Ronald Reagan

Republican

+34

+12

1984

Ronald Reagan

Republican

+14

-2

1988

George Bush

Republican

-2

0

1992

William J. Clinton

Democratic

-10

0

1996

William J. Clinton

Democratic

-9

-2

2000

George W. Bush

Republican

-3

-4

2004

George W. Bush

Republican

+3

+4

2008

Barack Obama

Democratic

+23

+8

2012

Barack Obama

Democratic

+8

+1

2016

Donald J. Trump

Republican

-6

-2

Citation: Gerhard Peters. "Seats in Congress Gained or Lost by the President's Party in Presidential Election Years." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2017. Available from the World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/presidential_elections_seats.php.